


Maybe it's the moon?

by oisamuu



Series: naruto [1]
Category: Naruto, Naruto (Anime) RPF
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, Amnesia, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Multi, Romance, Slow Burn, Trauma, i'll update as i go ig, idk where im going with this but pls join me on this journey, mainly kakashi based, remembering, soft, soft spots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-01-16 11:18:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21270194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oisamuu/pseuds/oisamuu
Summary: And you looked at me like there was something worth looking at.naruto!various // reader





	1. Who am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Appearing in the middle of the village of Konoha is one dishevelled and passed out girl. Alerted by a bright light civilians flee and shinobis come to investigate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've tried my best ;;

_**who **am i**?**_

* * *

* * *

<strike> _ **you don't belong here.** _ </strike>

The bright light flashes first, then her ears start ringing and now she can't think as waves of pain throb through her skull and fade out into a dull ache. Her eyes won't open and the most she can manage is a twitch of the mere finger. Where, who, what, why? There's no time to process and there's yet another flash of pain as her body goes rigidly still and a loud, muted bang echoes around her.

She could distinctly register the panicked yelling of women and children and others alike until everything goes eerily silent. Her whole body feels like its buzzing with electricity but she can't move, can't speak and can't explain that she does_n't think she's a threat to **them.**_

Tsunade was finally resting after screaming at nearly everyone in her close vicinity when it happened. At first- with her hokage like instincts- she naturally thought it was an attack. Then she heard the screaming of her people and then the voices of the shinobi she knew she could trust immediately come to attention. With one hand vainly rubbing away at the growing headache that was eating away at her and the other making wild gestures, she ordered her best to go and investigate.

"Report to me- _immediately, " _She throws a pointed glare at her less than punctual soldier, "Not one second late or early? Am I clear, Kakashi?"

With a vague wave of the hand and a mumbled '_maa_', Kakashi was already nearly near to the centre of today's attraction: the white light. Through the power of ninja-ly deduction, Kakashi already knew that whatever occurred wasn't a threat; after all, if it was the maddening alarm would've already been giving him a headache worse than Tsunade's. Other comrades of his were surrounding the place and he could make out some confused mutterings and that was all the information he got until he had a look himself. Sauntering his way over with his usual hands in pocket style, he slotted himself into a gap between Naruto and Kiba- only to regret it seconds later.

"Nee, nee sensei? Why do you think a random girl has just appeared here?" He made a point to wildly wave his arms around with his already overly enthusiastic questioning. Kakashi made a point to ignore him but it flew way over the well intentioned teen's head. "Sensei? Ka. Ka. Shi. Sen. Sei?" With grumbles of confusion, Naruto finally opted to believing that his sensei was in fact, _deaf, _and left him to his own demise, turning instead to Sasuke who was unfortunately placed to his left. Back to the matter at hand, Kakashi, with one hand itching to reach out for his latest re-write of the one and only Icha Icha Paradise and the other placed thoughtfully over his masked chin was quite surprisingly not sure what to make of the scene before him. 

One girl that couldn't be older than twenty was laying, dishevelled and sweating, in the middle of the road. With her hair spiralled around her and with a mere shirt that looked two sizes too big and with trousers so tattered that one side was ripped all the way to her mid thigh and the other surviving until her knee. Her brows were furrowed and he registered the occasional twitch of her fingers. But, out of all of these things mentioned, Kakashi couldn't quite grasp one thing. Where the hell was her-

"This mighty fine lady has no chakra! The power of youth will be hard to achieve with this one! That's for sure, but with enough training, she could surpass even me! Might Gai!" Kakashi muted away his surroundings and looked around at the shinobi around him. Sakura was the first to step up. 

A human being without even the weakest traces of chakra was unheard of and this could be a new breakthrough for her medical expertise. She needed to conduct a simple check up and then get the poor, seemingly harmless little thing off the road and into a hospital bed. Kneeling down besides her, she opted to use traditional methods instead of going straight in with her green spirals of ninjutsu. Checking her pulse, then her breathing levels and then her temperature, Sakura deducted that the new girl was fine, just slightly panicked and maybe dehydrated, heat stroke? Addressing those around her for advice on what the next steps would be, she lifted herself off the ground and went to pick up the shivering body on the floor.

"Take her to the infirmary, I'll make my way over to Tsunade." Kakashi proclaimed, a chorus of confirmations following soon after. Mid-spin, he stops, shoulder's tensed as Sakura lets out a gasp. Kakashi, though seemingly poised, was ready to take out any sort of threat but relaxed after seeing Sakura, perfectly fine, peering with astounded eyes at the girl in her arms. 

"She's as light as a feather! Do you think it could be the lack of chakra? Or the-" The only thing stopping the pink-haired kunoichi from taking out her notebook and pen was the, acclaimed light as a feather girl in her arms. Laughing gleefully, Sakura rushed to the hospital, with a confused Naruto and begrudging Sasuke following close behind. Kakashi went off towards the Hokage's office. Oh wait- is that an old lady in need of desperate help or are his eyes playing a big trick on him. Only one way to find out.

* * *

* * *

It had been maybe four days since the mysterious happenings but with her safely snoozing away in a hospital bed, the shinobi and life in Konoha went quickly back to usual after the initial interest. Naruto, obviously, had been getting quite impatient at the fact that his questions were left without an answer and so with a renewed(?) confidence, he was on his way to the hospital. Again. Sakura, after reporting the lack of chakra and weight to Tsunade, she was quite satisfied at her mentor's apparent interest and spent easy days checking up on the lady and making sure she was being fed in the hazy ten minutes or so she slipped in and out of consciousness for. Sasuke, frankly didn't care and spent the days polishing his sword or going on random, easy errands. Kakashi, after being late for two hours for the report had gotten an earful of Tsunade's temper and opted to remain far, far away from the office but relatively close to the hospital- y'know, just _in case. _

Back to Naruto, he was currently being avoided by Sakura after she spotted him just as she was about to turn the corner. With a hand to her chest, she thanked the heavens for making Naruto such an oblivious shinobi before she skittered off in the opposite direction to the blonde boy. Naruto, as mentioned, was completely oblivious to this and was making his merry way towards the girl that just couldn't get out of his mind for the past four days. Taking his usual seat beside her bed, the boy started rambling off about his day.

"Nee, nee, you know? I'm really patiently waiting for you to wake up so I can tour you around Konoha! I'll take you to Ichiraku, maybe even the BBQ place that Choji loves so much! Who knows, maybe you love food just as much as him. Although you don't look like you do, you're tiny." As he fell into a squeaky fit of giggles, the victim on the bed was internally running her mouth off at him.

'_You know, just because I look like I'm sleeping doesn't mean I can't hear you, you loud, annoying piece of shi-'_

Now, some would say this was bit of an exaggeration but after laying there for four days, immobilised against her will, the kid's voice got old _quick._

Maybe if she could just get up and try to deflect all he was saying, he'd be more tolerable. After all, she didn't wanna say too much about him without even catching a glimpse of his face. Sakura, unfortunately, hesitantly walked into the room, hitting the boy around the head and shouting straight into his ear.

"Cha! Be quiet for like, _two _seconds, Naruto! This is normally the time she wakes up."

'_It is?'_

"It is?! Sakura-chan, how could you not tell me!" As he whined, Sakura's prophecy came true and she slowly roused from her sleep. Oh, how she'd love to talk to them, but suddenly opening her eyes felt like she was carrying an elephant on her lids and everything went in slow motion. She slowly let out a low groan and started showing more movement than she had in the past four days.

"Oh! Naruto, get out of the way!" Pushing a still whining Naruto out of the way, Sakura quickly got to work and checked all of her vitals. "Oh God, Naruto! Go get Kakashi or something!"

"W-why?!"

"Quick!"

"Alright, okay!"

As Sakura started rambling off to herself about the poor girl's symptoms, she was close to hyperventilating and her eyes were half lidded and flittering around the room in a panicked haze. Her fingers twisted into the thin linen of the hospital bed as pain shot and twisted her way through her whole body. She could distantly register some people entering the room.

"Sensei! Should I sedate her or..." Kakashi winced as her pained howls grew louder at the mention of sedation.

"No, we're going to wait and see if she works it out of her body. <strike>_Whatever it is anyways."_</strike> Could anyone blame him? He still had his suspicions of course, who wouldn't when someone randomly shows up in the middle of their village.

"But sensei, she's in pain!"

_'Yeah, no shit!'_

As the pain slowly leaked out of her body and slithered away, the girl was left with a heavy ache in her temple but she could now open her eyes. She needed water, like right now. 

"Hn? What was that?" Naruto shushed everyone around him, there was quite a crowd.

"W-water, please." She wouldn't forget her manners, even if she was in the middle of a cave with some wolves or something. First impressions were important to her. But were they important to them?

"Ah; of course!" Sakura switched quickly into nurse mode and made her first checks on her conscious body.

Vitals were normal, slowly steadying but Sakura still took note of her heavy eyes and shaking limbs before letting Kakashi do the talking. After drinking a few meek sips, the girl sat up and stared doe-eyed and curiously at the people in the room. Sensing her discomfort, Sakura urged everyone but Team 7 out of the room. When had Sasuke even shown up?

"Okay, who are you guys?" Straight to the point and blunt, albeit her voice was still hoarsely whispered and strained. Kakashi merely raised his eyebrows and switched his weight from his right to his left side.

"Alright, I wont make you talk much, we just need some basic information from you." She nods. "We'll start simple: Who are you?"

The question, although proclaimed simple, baffled the slim girl in the bed, eyebrows crossing and a hazed look crossing over her eyes as wrinkles appeared on her forehead. "Who am... I?"

Kakashi sent an eyebrow raise look at the others in the room. Sakura thought best to take over. "A name, village you come from, anything would help." She smiled reassuringly at the slowly panicking girl.

Wiping her sweaty hands against each other, she looked anywhere but the four people in her room. Six dreadfully long seconds and she locks eyes with the blonde boy who'd talked like there was no tomorrow to her. She had an achingly pitiful and desperate look on her face as she uttered her next words.

"I..." A gulp. "I don't remember."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is encouraged. I have no idea where I'm going with this but we'll see. Please comment and leave constructive criticism.
> 
> Much appreciated <3


	2. Settle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slowly recovering, our mystery girl is getting weird visions that she can't comprehend.

_ **settle** _

* * *

* * *

<strike> _ **remember** _ </strike>

Another four days had passed since she had first woken up and nothing was clicking yet. Naruto hadn't dissappointed in his mission and diligently came to her hospital every afternoon to keep her company. Telling her a little bit about himself, his friends and his dreams, the girl slowly but surely warmed up to him. Simultaneously, she slowly became increasingly bored and impatient in her immobilised state of lying in bed all day.

"Naruto?" He perks up at her initiation. "Can you help me to stand?"

For some reason, ever since she woke up, although the initial twisting pain had passed, she still couldn't shake off the shaking limbs and the heavy headache. She had tried to get up but had fallen straight back onto the bed and gave up in order to not be found on the floor by Sakura. Naruto was already on his feet, arms out for support and she looks cautiously into his eyes and sends a weak smile towards him in great contrast to the contagious grin on his. Grasping his forearm as well as she could, she throws the blanket off of herself and swings her legs over the edge of the bed. 

"Okay." She exhales.

Naruto squeezes her hand reassuringly.

Pulling herself onto her feet, after an initial stumble, she regains balance and a wide grin breaks out on her face. Letting go of the warm hands encasing hers, she takes a shaky step forward and lets out a breathy chuckle at her simple success. Naruto stayed near her, arms out and ready to support her.

* * *

* * *

After another two days, mystery-chan - as Naruto had taken the courtesy of calling her- was up and ready to explore and get a hold of herself once again. Sakura was talking animatedly whilst leading her down to the main reception to sign her out.

"Okay, so... First destination is probably the Lady Tsunade's office, she's really excited to see you." Mystery-chan nods at her, her excitement contagious and uplifting.

Whilst in the streets, Sakura quickly slowed herself down to the other's speed and even offered her arm out for her. Arm in arm, they went down the street, the pinkette pointing at random places and describing random memories or events that the other wished she could relate too; there still wasn't anything new about her past. 

"Hey Forehead!" A tug at her arm and she was suddenly being pulled towards a group of girls. 

As Sakura easily relaxed into the newbie's insults, mystery-chan could only stand offhandedly to the side- some could even call it awkward. At last, she was recognised and helped into the friend group being introduced to Ino, Tenten, Hinata and Temari all at once.

After introductions had been made, a hurried plan to have a hot springs party was made and mystery-chan was whisked away to their initial destination - the Hokage's office.

* * *

* * *

The Hokage, who she'd been quite scared of due to Naruto's ramblings about, had not been that bad at all. In fact, she had been uncharacteristically gentle towards her, which she confirmed even with Sakura's bewildered look. After quick greetings and generic policy questions, a new problem arose: where would mystery-chan stay?

"With me- ttebayo!" This exclamation was met with pointed looks and crossed arms. Sakura looked apologetically towards the homeless girl.

"I still live with my parents, I have no room.."

"Alright," Tsunade had banged a fist against her desk, eyebrows crossed downwards. "Bring me Kiba!"

So, it was decided she'd stay with Kiba. He lived alone with his sister, who'd keep him in line, and there was Akamaru! Plus, the Inuzuka houses were quite close to the town centre.

Kiba, once he found out, met eyes with her with a blush that he covered up quickly with a toothy grin before quickly taking her to his home.

* * *

* * *

"So, who's Akamaru?" Her voice, which Kiba immediately decided that he wanted to hear more of, was still resigned and toned with tints of upset. Kiba couldn't blame her, she was in an unfamiliar place and couldn't remember anything- supposedly. But, he took the benefit of the doubt and decided to keep her as comfy as possible in her stay.

"He's my best friend!" As if called, the huge ball of white came dashing towards her at an alarming speed and before she knew it, she was knocked to the ground and the oversized puppy was licking her. "Hey, woah! She's still hurt Maru!"

Ignoring the shooting pain in her ribs and the intensified throbbing in her skull, she relished in the dog's approach and petted him back wherever she could. Pushing herself into a sitting position, Kiba wished he could engrave the sight into his brain forever. Her eyes glistened with unshed, joyful tears and her hair was a mess as she stroked his life long companion's white fur who's tail was beating heavily against the wooden flooring of the entrance to his house. Noticing he had zoned out, Akamaru turned his attention to his own personal human friend and pounced on him instead. The rest of the evening was pretty much spent like this.

* * *

* * *

That was until Kiba heard the pained groan from inside. He had retreated to the kitchen for a moment, planning to prepare a very late dinner for when his sister came home. His first thought was that Akamaru had been too enthusiastic but then he heard his worried whines and knew that wasn't right. When he rushed back in he was met with a sight that he never wanted to see again. She sat on the ground, hair messy from the hands that clasped it and eyes wide and glazed over as she stared into nowhere. She was deadly pale and Kiba felt his heart rise to his throat and his stomach drop low as he rushed over to her, delicately sitting beside her and brushing a tentative finger against her elbow.

No response. 

"H-hey?" He pushed her shoulder a bit more persistently. It wasn't his pushing that snapped her back into reality but more like whatever she had seen had ended. Her mouth seemed to open wordlessly, and her eyes were still unfocused as she stared at Kiba's hand that had somehow found it's way into hers. "You need to tell me."

He didn't want to seem demanding but he couldn't go against orders. Tsunade had specifically told him not to let her bottle things up and tell if something strange had happened.

"Tell you what?" She was quiet, unnervingly so and he felt a shiver rack up his spine. "I don't even know what that was."

"Describe it, then." Her eyes darted up to his searching for some kind of mal intent but when she couldn't find any, the tension in her shoulders visibly melted away. 

"I was somewhere like a cave. It was red and brown and dark and I was chained to the wall." Kiba squeezed her hand. "There was a person, super pale, long hair and he had a long tongue."

She tensed and shook, eyes going unfocused again. "And I was- I was..." Akamaru snuggled his head up against her thigh. "I was wearing the thing the man with the spiky grey hair was wearing and I had a mask. I think the person was experimenting on me."

Kiba, although told to not be as friendly as he was with others, fell into his natural instincts and pulled her straight into a bear hug. Or a wolf hug, in his case. Sandwiched between two warm furnaces, she couldn't help but feel even a little bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter is up! Little slower, but I don't want to rush straight into my juicy ideas ;))  
thankyou for reading and please do comment if you can <3


	3. plague

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's nearing the hot spring's night but Mystery-chan has yet to even get outside of her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> although im ashamed to post since its been months... ;-;  
an update is better than none !

_torture_

* * *

* * *

_plague_

It plagued her. Day and night.

And at first, Akamaru had given her mind even the slightest break but those jumbled up and confusing and _terrorising _visions didn't leave the expanse of her mind. Instead, it swam and swam hitting her skill tantalisingly and never letting her have a peace of mind. Kiba, after sandwiching her in a hug and leaving her to fall asleep in exhaustion, had immediately reported to Tsunade. She was worried but she was also the Hokage and couldn't just give one case all of her attention. So, she told Kiba to do what he could for her and make sure she stayed alive and dismissed him. 

Kiba stayed true to his word and tried his best to keep her running. His sister helped in the long run, going inside to give her a change of clothes or to help her bathe. 

Kiba was lost and didn't know what to do. That was until Hinata came up to him to enquire about her.

"We're going to be having a girl's night but none of the girl's have seen her about."

Kiba, sheepishly told her the situation and after a small reassuring comments from her, Hinata was inside Mystery's room.

"Hello..?"

Now, Hinata was by no means very confident or sociable herself, but the girls had asked her to go and ask around for the mystery girl, so she sure as hell wasn't about to let her friends down. 

The Hyuuga residence was quite close to the Inuzuka residence, so she couldn't make any excuses anyways. Reaching the lump that was situated on top of the futon, Hinata kneeled down onto the side of it and tentatively called out again. 

With no response she found herself just blankly sitting there for a while; that was until the lump started to stir. Hinata backed away a little bit when the lump seemed to explode, the figure inside shooting up at an alarmed pace. Hyperventilating, the girl's eyes darted around the room and as her pupils came in and out of focus and she registered that she was in fact, _safe_, then she finally noticed that she wasn't alone.

A choked sound lodged itself into her throat at the realisation of their being another presence that wasn't Kiba or his sister with her and a blush, that Hinata could only describe as embarrassed, spread from her neck up to her hairline.

"Hey." Hinata let an easy smile grace her face. Somehow, the other occupant of the room being double, even three times more awkward and nervous than herself, had reassured Hinata in a way. "I don't know if you remember me, I'm Hyuuga Hinata. We met on the street briefly."

The girl nodded and found herself unable to flash a smile back, Hinata didn't mind. Shrugging the blanket off from around her, the girl sat up a bit more straight and Hinata noticed how she was wearing clothes that were obviously too big for her. A baggy long sleeved shirt and what seemed to be normal thigh length shorts that instead hung below her knees. She was small, Hinata noted, swearing to herself that she'd treat her to a nice meal when she got a bit more settled in.

"Kiba's sister, Hana gave them to me." She hesitated a bit, playing with the hem of the frayed blanket. "It's a bit big for me though."

"Yeah, I can see, if you feel up to it," Hinata locks eyes with her. "We could always go shopping."

She looks away, giving a nod.

"Ah, before I forget why I came here."

_Why wasn't she commenting on the fact that she had woken up panicked?_

"We promised you a girl's night out to the hot springs." Hinata stood up, brushing off her thighs to keep her hands occupied. "When would you be up to it?"

The girl, to Hinata's dismay, seemed a bit lost at the question. 

"Um. I _don't know_. Whenever?"

"Would you still like to come?"

"I want to," Her fingers drummed across the wooden floor. "If I'm still invited, <strike>that is</strike>."

"You are." Hinata turned to look at her over her shoulder. "I'll drop by tomorrow with some smaller clothes that'll fit you and then we'll go out and meet with the others, okay?"

"Okay."

"See you."

A small sound comes from the back of Mystery's throat in reply, she hadn't talked that much in a long time. Hinata leaves, mystery-chan feels the tension on her shoulders ease.

She feels her heart twist and settle itself deep into her stomach, though.

* * *

The days went by in a daze. Mystery-chan found herself with some new clothes that actually fit her and made even herself feel a bit brighter. The nightmares still came by and she still found herself waking up in the middle of the night, jittery and shaky as Kiba comfortingly stroked her back whilst rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

She was working on trying to keep quiet.

He had given her a room in his house, and she didn't want to be any more of a burden.

Alongside Hinata, she had left the residence for the first time since she got there and met with the other girls. They were all welcoming, some were more curious and prying, the others were respectful of her boundaries and didn't push her.

Then, by the end of the night, she had been walked home by Hinata, given a quick hug and reminded for the third time that, "Next week, on the weekend, I'll come pick you up during the evening!"

Hinata, however shy and quiet she had come across as at the beginning had stripped away her shell and became quiet loud into the evening. Laughing along and making her feel included and wanted overall.

She wouldn't mind going out with them again. They were fun but she would be lying if she said she wasn't tired. Drained even.

She could only remember about three weeks of her life, but she could swear she never wanted to sleep more than then.

She didn't sleep that night because as soon as her head hit her pillow, the promise of another nightmare was too prominent and threaded its way back into her head.

She lay there, eyes wide open and unmoving, focused solely in the splintered wood that she assumed Akamaru had made with his claws.

That night she found out she didn't need to be sleeping for the grimy and pale snake man to haunt her. The plus side: at least she wasn't waking up Kiba.

* * *

The trip to the hot springs was fast paced and now that she was actually there, standing with a towel around her and the almost suffocating hot steam that surrounded her, made her feel quite out of place. 

But before she could feel herself fall down the spiral of what others would call her mind, Sakura and Ino were ushering for her to step in. That it wasn't too bad once she actually got _in_to the water. And she found herself trusting them and stepping in.

As much as she was grateful for Hana helping her bathe and scrubbing her down as best as she could, ever since she had woken up in the hospital bed, the heavy ache in her muscles had not budged. Day in and day out, she felt as if the day before she had done some strenuous exercise and along with her heavy aches she experienced phantom pains that put her hairs on end and left her with a feeling of dread. Who knows what her body was remembering. She had told no one about that part, though.

However, stepping into this hot and steaming natural source of water, she felt a little bit of the pain that had latched itself onto her muscles lessen their grips and she took in one long breath and felt her head clear.

"This is..." She opened her eyes and cracked a smile. "_Really_ good. Thankyou."

Everyone that was with her, Ino, Sakura, Tenten, Temari and Hinata felt their heartstrings pull at the relaxed expression on her face.

"We didn't do anything." Ino broke the silence, a grin stretched across her face. "You** d**o not need to be thanking us, Mystery-chan."

"You let me come with you all. That's enough."

She couldn't tell if the girls' faces were red because of the temperature or something else. She brushed it off and shrunk further into the water, letting the soft waves of water brush against her face. She sighs.

"Isn't Mystery-chan kind of a really bad nickname?" Tenten speaks up. 

"Yeah, it is." Sakura rubs a finger over her chin. "You came during the spring so maybe we could call you by something spring-related." 

Ino snickers at this, "So original, billboard brow."

As they fall into another bickering session, Mystery-chan lets herself watch the ripples on the water. 

"Haruko." Temari speaks up. 

"Oh... Like spring child?" Suddenly, everyone's looking at her. "That suits you."

Everyone smiles, and Mystery or Haruko, smiles along with them.

The rest of the night was spent with the girls teasingly making comments about how her body was cute, but they all flew over Haruko's head.

"I'm kinda tired. We should get out soon." 

"Ten, are we staying here tonight?"

"Yeah we are, why'd you as- Haruko?"

Haruko, who was about hip deep in the water, mid way through stepping out, froze and turned to look at Tenten. She tilted her head, raising her eyebrows as she felt oddly cold now that she was out of the water.

"You have an ANBU tattoo." At this, everyone turned to look at Haruko.

"ANBU..?" Haruko, although swearing she had never heard the word in her life, felt her stomach drop when she heard it. "What's ANBU..? Hinata?"

With all the girls seeming troubled, Temari took the courtesy of breaking the silence. "Hey, come on, let's get a move on or we are all gonna catch a cold."

Slipping into their robes in relative silence, Haruko awkwardly followed the girls to the room they had booked for all of them to stay in. A sleepover, Ino had mentioned excitedly to Haruko whilst they were changing out of their robes, ready to enter the hot spring baths.

Now exiting, Ino's cheery attitude was still present but more muted.

How serious was an ANBU tattoo, anyways? And why had it struck something deep inside of her brain? The ache of her muscles were coming back, and she'd caught herself before she wished that she could sleep. So preoccupied by her thoughts, Haruko only snapped out of it when Sakura had spoken; finding herself sitting in a circle in a fairly large room, Haruko related the feeling she was experiencing as something akin to being investigated.

"I don't get it." Sakura was thinking again, fingers stroking her chin. "I don't know a lot about ANBU, but I do know your tattoo should be on your arm, not on your lower back."

"Yeah, I've never heard of an ANBU tattoo being _there_ of all places."

Another round of silence encompassed the room and Haruko found herself fidgeting and shifting on her knees a bit as she contemplated speaking up. Digging her nails into her palms, she decided she might as well get it over and done with. 

"What's-" She gulps and the girls around her seem to remember there's someone akin to a newborn baby in front of them. "Er, what's... Um- What's ANBU?"

"ANBU is basically a special black ops that the Hokage themselves pick. They get sent on harder missions that normal shinobi don't, or _can't_, do. It stands for Special Assassination and Tactical Squad." Tenten, who's eyebrows were pinched together, added, "Tsunade-sama hasn't used them much though; they say its a really traumatic job that only a few can handle."

Haruko didn't know what to say. If she really did used to be part of an assassination squad, <strike>_the thought itself sent her brain into overdrive_</strike>, did she really want to remember what even happened to her? Even the thought of hurting someone sent her hands and toes into becoming numb and she felt her heart freeze at even hurting any_thing_ or putting herself at risk. 

Maybe she had lost her memory due to something traumatic. If it was anything to go off of, the nightmares that she was plagued with definitely showed some sort of trauma; her brain couldn't be making up those visions randomly. 

"Ha-ru-ko?" Ino was waving a hand over her eyes.

"Sorry. I spaced out."

Temari seemed sympathetic. "Okay, well let's leave it there for tonight. Let's rest and we'll ask Tsunade tomorrow."

A chorus of agreeing sounds echoed around the room and a couple of minutes later, Haruko found herself lying in a futon in between Sakura and Temari, tucked in by Ino herself, she refused to move in case she broke the warm cocoon that was around herself. 

She did fall asleep that night, and she didn't wake up screaming at all.


End file.
